Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has sharply criticized OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's plan to relax ChatGPT's safety restrictions and allow adult-oriented content for verified users, warning that the move could backfire.
Altman Promises Freer, More Human ChatGPT Experience
On Tuesday, Altman announced that OpenAI will soon roll out a new version of ChatGPT with greater personality flexibility and fewer guardrails.
He said the company initially made ChatGPT "pretty restrictive" to protect users' mental health, but is now ready to "safely relax the restrictions in most cases."
"In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!)" Altman wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He added that adults will be able to choose "very human-like" personalities or even "erotica" options once age-gating is fully implemented in December.
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Cuban Raises Red Flags On Child Safety And School Use
Cuban responded bluntly, saying the decision could cause major backlash.
"This is going to backfire. Hard," he wrote. "No parent is going to trust that their kids can't get through your age gating. They will just push their kids to every other LLM. Why take the risk?"
He warned that schools might also abandon ChatGPT, noting that even verified 18-year-olds could misuse adult features and share explicit content with younger students.
"What could go wrong?" he added.
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Amid Expansion, OpenAI Pursues $500 Billion Chip Initiative
Altman's comments come as OpenAI embarks on a $350–$500 billion chip deal with Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) to co-design custom AI chips and expand data capacity to 26 gigawatts — roughly equivalent to 26 nuclear reactors.
OpenAI is reportedly now valued at $500 billion, surpassing Elon Musk's SpaceX to become the world's most valuable startup.
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